Deer kill nears 6,000

Hunters again are enjoying a bountiful deer gun season in the Tuscarawas Valley as Tuscarawas County is leading the state in number of white-tailed deer harvested in 2009, while five other counties in the region placed in the Top 10.

Hunters again are enjoying a bountiful deer gun season in the Tuscarawas Valley as Tuscarawas County is leading the state in number of white-tailed deer harvested in 2009, while five other counties in the region placed in the Top 10.

Tuscarawas County’s total of 5,901 was an increase from last year’s 5,862, which also topped the state.

Overall, hunters in Ohio claimed 114,633 deer Nov. 30 through Sunday, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife. In 2008, hunters killed 116,798 deer during the season.

Hunters still have a weekend of deer gun hunting, Dec. 19 and 20, and archery season remains open until Feb. 7. The statewide muzzleloader deer hunting season will be held Jan. 9-12.

Although Scott McKee, 49, of Coshocton was wounded Dec. 1 in a shooting incident in Tuscarawas County, that was the only serious incident reported.

“It was a very uneventful year,” said Peter Novotny, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife, officers supervisor of Akron. “It was by far the least amount of complaints we’ve had to respond to in my 15 years with the division.”

He praised area farmers for their help in allowing hunters access to private property.

“The farmer is the deer scientist in a way, by encouraging hunters to harvest antlerless deer to keep a good, healthy population – that access is vital to the future of deer hunting in Ohio,” he said.

A total of 178,397 deer have been harvested so far this season when combining the adult and youth gun seasons, early muzzleloader season, and the first six weeks of the archery season.

That compares to a total of 179,194 killed last year during the same time period. Hunters took a total of 252,017 deer during all of last year’s hunting seasons.

The statewide deer population was estimated to be 650,000 in late September, prior to the start of the hunting season. About 420,000 hunters were expected to participate in the state’s deer gun season.